Kids-for-cash developer Robert K. Mericle must go to jail, several area residents demanded in letters sent to U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik.

A day after a request by The Citizens' Voice, Kosik on Wednesday released more letters written to him regarding the looming sentencing of the wealthy developer. Most of the 13 letters urged Kosik to sentence Mericle to prison, saying jail time is the only just punishment for his role in the juvenile justice scandal perpetrated by two Luzerne County judges.

"Mr. Mericle continues to slap us in the face, making millions while he is a convicted felon and should be serving a deserving sentence," wrote Sandy Fonzo, who famously confronted one of the judges outside federal court regarding the suicide of her son after placement in juvenile detention. "It was his money that enabled the kids for cash tragedy."

Fonzo urged the judge to issue a sentence that shows future generations "that justice and ethics prevail, not the influential, rich and powerful."

Mericle will be sentenced on Friday on a charge known as misprision of a felony. His federal crime stems from his paying $2.1 million to former Luzerne County judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan, who were accused of conspiring to shutter a county-run juvenile detention center and send scores of juveniles to two facilities built by Mericle's construction firm. Mericle pleaded guilty on Sept. 2, 2009 to failing to disclose to federal investigators and a grand jury that he knew the judges were defrauding the United States by lying about the money on their taxes.

"Bottom line is that he committed a crime - a crime that had not one, but thousands, of victims," wrote Robert and Susan Morgans, of Hancock Street, Wilkes-Barre, who described themselves as "parents of a Kids-for-Cash victim."

The Morgans demanded jail time for the wealthy developer.

"A sentence without serving time, or to be confined to a wealthy estate, would be the ultimate slap in the victims' faces," they wrote.

Kosik did not provide the letters electronically or allow them to be copied, only letting a reporter review them in the clerk of courts office.

Martin G. Husovich, a drywall contractor from White Haven, wrote he had terrible dealings with Mericle when he subcontracted a job for Mericle in 2005.

"No one twisted his arm to participate in the Kids for Cash scandal because screwing over relative nobodies has been an intrinsic part of his business model for as long as he was able to get away with it," Husovich wrote. "I hope you keep his cognitive freewill participation in mind when you sentence him."

Sentencing guidelines indicate Mericle would normally face eight to 14 months in prison. Prosecutors wrote in a recent court filing that they intend to ask Kosik to grant Mericle a reduction for testifying against Ciavarella at trial.

Such a reduction would reduce the sentence guideline to six to eight months. Mericle's attorneys will then argue for a further reduction to include a sentence of probation, asking Kosik to consider Mericle's good works in the community. Prosecutors previously said they would take "no position" if Mericle asks for his sentence to be probation, home confinement or an alternative to prison.

Mericle's attorneys recently filed 295 pages of character letters on his behalf.

Under his plea agreement, Mericle has already placed $2 million into a fund to benefit agencies and groups dedicated to helping youth. He has also settled civil claims stemming from the scandal for $17.75 million.

One of the letters released Wednesday was written by Harveys Lake resident Marie Oliver Meade, a mother of one of the juveniles affected by the scandal. She asked Kosik not to send Mericle to jail, saying he employs many people and brings businesses to the area, including the Lowe's warehouse in Pittston Township where her son works. She also noted Mericle donated a place for her family to live after they were displaced by the flood of September 2011.

"I hope you do consider our story and keep Mr. Mericle out of jail," she wrote.

Other letter writers included:

n Robert Wojack, of Winter Street, Yatesville, told Kosik that sending Mericle to prison would "send a message to all that if you break the law you will go to jail no matter how much money you give away."

n Eugene J. Klimash, of Ridge Street, Shavertown, said he has "trouble realizing how a supposed generous person should be given any sort of break" and asked Kosik to issue the same sentence to Mericle as he would anyone with lesser means.

n Daniel and Johanna Gentile of Webster Avenue, Scranton, told the judge they "pray you consider the higher end" of the sentencing scale.

n Robert Swaback, of Susquehanna Avenue, in Forty Fort, urged Kosik to "restore our faith in justice and the rule of law and sentence Mr. Mericle to jail."

n Joseph Krull Jr., of Dana Street, Wilkes-Barre, wanted Kosik to "consider all the damage Mericle has done to the people of NEPA, also the tarnished image of NEPA for many years to come."

n Joseph Piconi, of Grassy Island Avenue, Jessup, demanded jail time for Mericle because he committed crimes "that resulted in the endangering of children."

n Two letters were sent anonymously.

Mericle's sentencing is set for Friday at 10 a.m. in federal court in Scranton.

bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2055, @cvbobkal

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